Hall: Vote for less government — vote yes on 1A

I know and understand how some of you may think this is a current issue and seems to be about personalities between the current county commissioners and the current county council.

Even at its inception, over 40 years ago, there were questions about the need for a county council. In fact, no other county in the state has a county council, and they get along just fine.

I have been observing the county council for many years, dating as far back as the early '90s. I ran, and was elected, as a write-in candidate for the council in 1990. I served to see for myself what, if any, value a unique county council has. The often-mislabeled concept that it is an oversight board was not the case. Council members are charged with reviewing all aspects of county government. They, by the charter, have no authority to effect any change. The most they can do is use the bully pulpit to talk about those aspects. I contend any county resident can do the same. As we have seen, it seems to then devolve into personality conflicts between elected county officials. This does not make things better.

With amendments to the state's constitution, such as TABOR and government ethics, the council's duties have been whittled down. In 1995 the State Supreme Court ruled that the county is a political subdivision, created to carry out the will of the state government and most of the duties of the council are covered with or without a county council.

County elected officials, the sheriff, assessor, clerk and recorder and the Board of Weld County Commissioners, are accountable to all the people of Weld County, not just a five-member board that meets once a month for an hour.

The council was intended to be a nonpartisan, nonpolitical citizen panel and has become obsolete and ridiculed for its politics, conflicts of interest, lack of action and most recently its inappropriate and apparent collusion during a performance audit.

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Where was the all-male council when an outside investigator determined one commissioner's behavior toward six women created a hostile work environment? It was a prime opportunity for the council members to serve in their role as a reviewer, yet they never asked for the report; they never questioned the commissioner's behavior. They simply looked the other way. One councilman doubted the investigators conclusions of inappropriate behavior. This same councilman had more than 200 phone calls in a seven-month period with the same commissioner during the audit.

The county council actually costs the citizens money. Voting to eliminate the County council will remove an unnecessary layer of county government with a $75,000 budget. It is not about personalities. The people will watch over our county elected officials.

— Dale Hall previously served on the Weld County Council in 1991. He also was elected a Weld County Commissioner and Colorado State Representative for HD-48. He is the chairman of We The People Committee.